U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell has issued a temporary injunction suspending a mining permit after a request for an emergency order to block the work by Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and the Sierra Club.

Judge Russell suspended the permit for at least two weeks while the group asks the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the permit. The appeal could take several months to decide.

The original permit was issued to Leeco, Inc., a subsidiary of James River Coal. Mining had not yet started when the permit was suspended.